Carol Vorderman’s comments regarding a government minister’s schooling were dubbed “snobbery” in parliament.
The former Countdown host, 62, is no new to calling out the Tory Party, having previously called out ‘disgusting’ Boris Johnson for egregious lockdown rule-breaking during the epidemic.
More recently, the This Morning host has slammed Conservative cabinet minister Johnny Mercer and his wife Felicity Cornelius-Mercer for their large pay cheques after they dismissed reports that suffering British Army personnel were relying on food banks.
‘He said yday military personnel don’t need to go to foodbanks He earns over £110k as a Minister & pays her in his office £35-40k. She’s paid more than Army officer & TWICE more than young soldier. RT [sic],’ she had previously tweeted.
In a further jab at the married couple, Carol had also written on social media: ‘Not a degree in sight in spite of expensive private education! So who’d employ them?’
The message was followed with a shrugging emoji.
Siobhan Baillie, the Conservative MP for Stroud, weighed in on the issue during an adjournment discussion in the House of Commons, where she was arguing for more access to on-the-job training.
She said: ‘Snobbery about further education and no degree sadly continues to this day. You just have to look at Carol Vorderman’s attack on (Tory minister Johnny Mercer) and his wife.’
After referencing the Math’s whizz’s tweet about Mercer’s education, she said: ‘This is the latest example of nonsense. Dismissing a minister who works tirelessly for the armed forces and veterans for not having gone to university is bad enough, but deliberately being condescending about the lives of millions of people who did not go to university is absolutely unforgivable.
‘I used to admire Carol Vorderman an awful lot before she decided to eat so much political hate for breakfast to get social media hits. Now, sadly, I just feel sorry for her.’
Prior to the adjournment discussion on Monday, Carol tweeted that calling her an educated snob was a “joke.”
She said: ‘They can’t think of anything else to have a go at…. HOWEVER, I’ll let my record in education do the talking (including) helping 500,000 children with their maths during lockdown…giving bursaries for young people and schools with disadvantaged backgrounds like mine….helping Blunkett introduce the Numeracy Hour….governor of inner city school……education books for decades…..recognised STEM Ambassador….I could go on.
‘Always a believer in encouraging young people to achieve their best, in whichever way that comes around, to be strong and happy and confident. Anything else being espoused is offensive, targeted, predictable Right Wing nonsense. PS Tories….this attack won’t work. It just makes us more determined.’
Carol has previously been labelled as a “very nasty person” by Mercer on the social networking site, and the TV host has made a number of scathing statements regarding his job as a minister.
